Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Position Cut by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 3.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 361,580 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 13,202 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.61% of Waters worth $96,376,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WAT. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Waters by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,977 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,165,000 after purchasing an additional 645 shares in the last quarter. Group One Trading L.P. bought a new position in Waters during the 1st quarter valued at $135,000. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its stake in Waters by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 8,167 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,535,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Waters by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 294,027 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $91,287,000 after purchasing an additional 4,656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential PLC boosted its stake in Waters by 39.4% during the 1st quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 4,626 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,436,000 after purchasing an additional 1,308 shares in the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Waters Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WAT opened at $261.04 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.71. Waters Co. has a 1 year low of $231.90 and a 1 year high of $353.70. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $260.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $267.56. The firm has a market cap of $15.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.71, a P/E/G ratio of 5.83 and a beta of 0.90.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.56 by $0.28. Waters had a return on equity of 102.22% and a net margin of 21.80%. The business had revenue of $711.69 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $722.27 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.64 earnings per share. Waters’s quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Waters Co. will post 11.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WAT has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Waters from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Waters from $260.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 8th. StockNews.com started coverage on Waters in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Waters in a report on Thursday, September 28th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $280.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Waters from $305.00 to $290.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $298.00.

Waters Profile

Waters Corporation, a specialty measurement company, provides analytical workflow solutions in Asia, the Americas, and Europe. It operates through two segments, Waters and TA. The company designs, manufactures, sells, and services high and ultra-performance liquid chromatography, as well as mass spectrometry (MS) technology systems and support products, including chromatography columns, other consumable products, and post-warranty service plans.